


Oh, To Walk in the Garden of My Heart

by Blona222



Category: Anne of Green Gables (TV 1985) & Related Fandoms, Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery, Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: A Cottagecore Love, Eventual Romance, F/M, First Kiss, First Love, Flower Crowns, Fluff, Happy Ending, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Idiots in Love, Lets Start From the Beginning, Mutual Pining, Romance, Shirbert, Slow Burn, angsty
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-02
Updated: 2020-06-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:41:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24508591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blona222/pseuds/Blona222
Summary: "If I had a flower for every time I thought of you, I could walk in my garden forever." - Alfred Lord TennysonAnne Shirley Cuthbert and Gilbert Blythe had quite an interesting meeting that day in the woods. But what if that wasn't their first meeting, and their connection, in fact, ran much deeper?orAnne and Gilbert are reunited years after they became friends. Spelling bees, flower crowns, passed notes, and stolen kisses ensue.
Relationships: Gilbert Blythe & Anne Shirley, Gilbert Blythe/Anne Shirley
Comments: 24
Kudos: 82





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you, Brookemichelleee, for the prompt and suggestion (I'm in love with it) 
> 
> Our favorite little love birds reunite.

“Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity, or registering wrongs.” - Jane Eyre

“Anne of Green Gables.”

Anne gasped lightly at this, slowing backing away from where Billy had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. She had been quite at her leisure, convincing herself that the day would be much better than the previous one, now that she knew what long division was, when Billy interrupted. “You and me, we’re gonna talk.” He said it in such a casual manner, but the look in his eyes said quite different.

“You said some pretty nasty stuff about my sister,” Billy said. She had? And since when did he have a sister?

“Who’s your sister?” Anne said.

“Prissy Andrews, dummy.”

“I’m sure I didn’t mean to be nasty.” Anne’s voice was beginning to quiver. She quickly thought back to the day before, filing through the things she'd said. There was that one moment during lunch when she had mentioned a certain pet mouse and all of the girls had scoffed and glared at her. But why would Prissy have been so upset over one small tale?

“Is that why she was crying all night? My parents say that's slander.” At this, Billy began to slowly move closer to her, his taunting steps making him seem as though he were a wolf with an eye on his prey. ”You want to get slandered?”

“Sorry, I truly meant no harm,” Anne dropped her slate, promptly backing up.

Billy’s voice dropped to a tone that had Anne shaking, “I’m gonna teach you a lesson Fido. You’re a bad dog. Bad little dog.”

At this, Anne’s eyes began to gloss over slightly. She couldn’t help but be taken back. Back to the time when Mr. Thomas fell willingly into a drunken fit in which he yelled and screamed and smashed the window into one of Anne’s only friendships, one of her only escapes from life. Back to the times when Mr. Hammond would run for her, the belt—his long-standing weapon of choice—in hand. Even back to the occasions in which the girls from the orphanage would approach her late at night and push her to the ground, standing over her like Billy was now.

She could hear Billy continue to approach her, mumbling under his breath and huffing heavily. But it sounded far away. So far away from the place she was currently trapped in. 

“Hey Billy!” Anne jerked her head up, eyes finally focusing back in on her surroundings and the brooding boy next to her. But now, there was something else to focus in on, too. “How’s it going?”

With every step, the boy that was approaching them became clearer to Anne. Although his shoulders were broad for a boy his age and he seemed strangely confident, there was something about him that didn’t seem as threatening as Billy. Maybe it was his nose that was slightly red from the morning chill. Or maybe it was the black tufts of hair poking out from beneath his hat. The tufts that were a black not unsimilar to the color of a star-spangled midnight sky. Either way, Anne, perhaps foolishly, wasn’t as afraid of his advance.

The boy that had spoken was nearing them with purposeful steps. He seemed very intent on reaching them. Although he said nothing to Anne, she couldn’t help but notice his eyes drifting over to hers every couple of seconds. This gesture, although small, made her feel like Billy couldn’t touch her, even though his presence lingered next to her.

“Hey Gilbert,” Billy’s voice had resumed its usual nature, no longer making it seem as though he was going to pounce at any second. 

“Man it-it’s um it’s good to be back,” Gilbert said.

“Uh yeah, yeah welcome back.” Billy definitely did not seem glad to have Gilbert back.

“Yeah, yeah it's good to see you buddy.” Gilbert stared blankly at the boy across from him. “So you guys uh playing a game or something,right? Looks fun but we should probably get to school, ay? Hate to be tardy, Mr. Phillips sure gets his dander up about that.”

“Yeah, yeah i was just about to get going.” Billy was silent for a second before looking back at Anne, “See you there.” A shiver ran up Anne’s spine. What, was he just going to be waiting behind the schoolhouse door, ready to resume his interrogation?

He didn’t wait for either one of them to say anything further before grasping his bag and turning in the opposite direction.

“You all right miss?” Gilbert was finally facing her. When she didn’t respond right away, he scanned her face more thoroughly, gazing deep into her limpid grey eyes and dragging his own across her fiery hair. At this, her self-consciousness bubbled to the surface, and she smoothed her braids down with her hands before casting her face downwards and reaching down to pick up her basket. 

Although she couldn’t see him at this moment, she could most definitely hear him gasp. “Wait a minute, what did you say your name was?” For some reason he suddenly sounded oddly desperate, and Anne wasn’t exactly comfortable with this change in attitude after her recent encounter. 

“I didn’t. Say, that is.” Anne wasted no time in getting back up, her basket in tow, and attempting to make her escape. But Gilbert was quicker than she was. 

He grabbed her arm, and her immediate response was to tug it back harder. However, his grip was firm. Without explanation, he lifted his hand to her temple and brushed back the few stray pieces of hair resting there. When his thumb brushed against a scar there, she roughly pushed his arm away, scowling deeply at him. “What do you think you’re doing?”

He shook his head, “Where did you get that scar?”

She looked at him like he was crazy. “It- it was a long time ago. And it most certainly isn’t anything you need to concern yourself with.”

She had had enough. She picked up her basket again, almost fuming at that point. She had felt so many emotions in the last ten minutes that she simply wanted to get away. Get out of these woods and into some fresh air. She pushed past him again and was positively intent on actually leaving this time. But she didn’t get far.

“Let me guess. An incident with a certain flower crown?”

She could have sworn that at that moment, she stopped breathing. Her basket dropped to the ground, completely forgotten in that moment. And she turned around. How could she have missed it? Those hazel eyes. Those black curls. That tiny, insufferable smirk. The way he made her feel safe, even when she didn’t know who he was.

They didn’t have the words to speak at first, but Gilbert finally asked, “Carrots?” And Anne broke. She rushed towards him, and he towards her. They grasped each other and pulled themselves in for a bone-crushing hug. Anne was shaking in Gilbert’s arms, unable to process that this was actually happening. This reunion wasn’t the one that she had rewritten over and over again in her head for years. No, he was actually there, as completely solid and real as he had once been. 

“I knew you couldn’t be just anyone. Not with hair that red,” he whispered to her. She huffed heavily into his sweater.

“Oh Gil, you complete and unmitigated git.”

She could practically feel the smile against her shoulder at that. “You know, we do actually need to get to school though. I wasn’t lying when I said Mr. Phillips doesn’t like that.”

Anne released him, and was pleased to see that his eyes were just as watery as hers in that moment. “Are you okay?” 

She just nodded.

She then took his hand, and along with it a deep breath. She felt so loved and heard in that moment, it was like nothing she had felt in the last few years. She wanted to bottle the moment so that she could take a drink of it in case she was ever parched with the feeling of being destitute and forgotten again. 

She was home. 

But she really did need to get to school.


	2. Mrs. Archibald and the Egg Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bit of Anne's past is revealed, along with the revelation that her and Gilbert's friendship may not be very well-recieved in Avonlea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I'm sorry this chapter is a bit late. I tried to make this one a bit longer to make up for it. I got my wisdom teeth out a little while ago and I didn't feel up to writing really. But I promise the next chapter won't take as long. Enjoy :)
> 
> * Please remember that some details won't be exactly like from the show or Before Green Gables, as I don't remember them exactly and I have to change minor things to fit the plot of this story. Thank you!

**3 Years Previous**

As Anne walked in the garden, she couldn’t help but feel a sort of hope that she had long since been void of. A sort of hope that she perhaps hadn’t felt since she thought that she would be taken in by her dear Eliza and her new husband. 

The garden wasn’t really even enough to be worthy of the name. No, Mrs. Thomas had far too many children and not nearly enough money to even think of spending time tending to a garden. And so it was mostly weeds and tall grasses. There were no daisies or poppies or tulips, as Anne would have preferred. But it was new. And even though the family’s new house didn’t come with a beautiful, blossoming garden, it allowed for Anne to finally have a room of her own—a luxury that she hadn’t ever experienced before. And it’s new location meant that Anne would finally be able to go to school. And so Anne had hope. 

“Anne! Anne, where are you?” Mrs. Thomas’ stern voice could faintly be heard coming from the kitchen. She could be heard bustling about inside when all of a sudden she pushed open the window overlooking the garden. “Oh you foolish girl.” Anne was balancing on top of a log when she fell over at the voice. “Anne, get inside now. I need you to go fetch some things for me.”

Anne nodded at her and brushed herself off, heading inside to grab her jacket and the coins for the errands. As she made her way for Mrs. Thomas, Mr. Thomas gave her a jerk of the head, as much of a greeting as she would ever get from him. From him, it certainly wasn’t a cold greeting by any means. In fact, Anne had noticed that he had been kinder to her as of lately. Well maybe not kinder, but less rude and imposing. 

In the kitchen, Mrs. Thomas had baby Noah on her hip and young Harry at her feet, tugging at her skirt and making needy, wanting noises. She had a streak of flour on her cheek, a touch that Anne might have thought charming if it weren’t for the fact that she also looked tired enough to fall asleep at any given moment, and frustrated enough to break something. An action that wasn’t uncommon with the family. “There you are,” she said, spotting Anne. She shoved a few coins into her hand, “I need you to pick up some brown sugar and eggs for me. I hear a Mrs. Archibald has some sugar at her place, down the way. A tiny blue house I believe. And a Mr. Johnson has chickens that bring eggs. His home is a little further down after Mrs. Archibald’s. Now be on your way, I need those for breakfast tomorrow.”

“Yes of course,” Anne said. “I’ll be back in two shakes of a lamb’s tail.”

Mrs. Thomas looked at her warily, “Mhm.” And then she looked away, effectively dismissing her.

Anne left the house, adorned in her thin jacket and carrying a woven basket, and all the while carrying a skip in her step. As she was leaving, she caught a glimpse of someone in the window of the house next door. A little boy had had his face pressed to the glass, watching her. When she caught sight of him, he quickly slipped out of view. Anne simply furrowed her brow and continued her journey. She didn’t have time to ponder over people who stared. Folks did it often enough, well with her being “the Thomases’ red-haired orphan freak.” Anne had gotten used to it over time. It had been all she’d ever known, but that didn’t mean she liked it.

The road was icy, the result of a spring that stalked forward slowly after winter. Anne truly wished spring would come faster. Spring would mean green everywhere and a new school year. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas even seemed more tolerable in the warm weather. Perhaps the truth was that the warm weather had some victory in warming their cold hearts. But despite the iciness, Anne managed to make it to Mrs. Archibald’s home in good health. 

When Anne knocked on the woman’s door, she didn’t at first receive an answer. Upon her second knock, though, a woman promptly threw open the door and smiled down at her. “Well hello there! How do you do?” Mrs. Archibald’s voice was like molasses, her words slow and drawn out, but warm and inviting. She was wearing a big billowing skirt and a patterned blouse, and her big, thick-framed glasses hung on a thread wrapped around her neck. 

“I am tremendously well, Mrs. Archibald,” Anne replied, glad that at least one of her neighbors was kind. 

“Well would you listen to that! Wonderful, my dear. And please, call me Evelyn. I wonder, are you one of the children with the new family? What was their name again? The Thomases?”

“Oh yes, I am indeed with them. But I’m not their child. My parents passed when I was just a babe, and they took me in. I’ve lived with them ever since.”

“Oh. Well that was awfully nice of them, wasn’t it?” 

Anne smiled weakly at this, “Yes, I suppose it was.”

Evelyn gave her a look, but spoke no more on the subject. “So, what can I do for you darling?”

“Oh, of course. I was hoping I would be able to buy some brown sugar off of you. Mrs. Thomas heard in town that you have quite a lot of it.”

“Indeed, I do. I make it myself, you know. Delicious stuff, especially when you know what to do with it. Come in, please, and help yourself to a cookie. It’ll only take me a few moments to get it together. Five pounds should be good for now, right?” But before Anne could answer her, she was gone from the room, leaving Anne in the living room with a plate of freshly baked shortbread cookies. 

Anne looked at the cookies inquisitively. She wasn’t really ever allowed sweets at the house. But Evelyn seemed fine enough with it, right? When Mrs. Archibald still didn’t return, Anne decided to pop one into her mouth. Her eyes widened right away. The cookies were soft and buttery and crumbled right in her mouth, unlike the hard, crunchy ones that Mrs. Thomas found herself making once every blue moon. No, these cookies were delectable. And delectable was something Anne rarely found herself describing her food as. 

As Evelyn came bustling back into the room, Anne quickly shoved a couple more cookies into her sleeve. 

“Well, my dear, here I have five pounds of brown sugar—perfect for all of your cooking and baking needs.”

“Oh yes. Well thank you so much Mrs-” Evelyn gave her a look. “Evelyn.” 

“You’re very welcome. And know that you’re free to come here anytime you’d like. Whether it’s for more brown sugar, some more cookies,” at this, Evelyn gave her a wink. “Or perhaps, just for some company.”

Anne smiled brightly at her, “I believe I would like that very much. You have been the most gracious and embracing host. But now I have to go fetch some eggs for Mrs. Thomas. I would hate to keep her waiting.” At this, Anne pushed the coins for the sugar into her hands.

“Of course, completely understandable. And I don’t actually think I caught your name. Would you mind indulging me?”

“I’m Anne. Anne Shirley. And please understand that it’s with an ‘e’ at the end,” Anne said. 

“Well, Anne with an e. It’s been a delight having you. But I guess you must be on your way. I’d hate for you to get in trouble just for appeasing an old woman.”

Anne gave her another lift of her lips, and she turned, basket full of brown sugar in hand, to leave through the door. But Anne noticed a flash of green from beneath the container of sugar. She lifted it up to her eyes and then ran it through her fingers before turning back to Evelyn. “Evelyn, I’m sorry but I think you must have accidentally dropped this in with the brown sugar. A ribbon I think it is.”

“No accident has occurred on my part. I’d like you to have it. After all, you do have the most beautiful red hair that deserves something to compliment it. It reminds me of my late daughter, Georgiana. She was a kind soul, like yourself.”

“A kindred spirit,” Anne said.

“Yes. A kindred spirit. I quite like that.” Mrs. Archibald tilted her head fondly at Anne. 

“You’ll have to tell me about her sometime. If you’d like to, of course.”

“When I see you next I will, when you aren’t quite as busy. I think you would have liked her. Very fiery, she was.”

Anne grinned.

\-----------------------------

Anne looked up at the grey house in confusion. Evelyn had told her that Mr. Johnson—the egg man—lived in the house at the very end of the street from her home. And that was where Anne was. It was grey, just like Mrs. Archibald had said. And it had big, towering windows, again, like Mrs. Archibald had said. But Anne still looked on in confusion because the house looked so lifeless.

There was absolutely no sign of life coming from the house. No flowers adorned windowsills like the other houses in the neighborhood, there was no sound of children running around or parents yelling after them, not even the scent of a home-cooked meal wafting out. No, the only sign that somebody occupied the house at all was the mailbox with the word “Johnson” on it. The mailbox seemed completely out of place, with it being painted a pretty blue and having hummingbirds on it. A lone piece of decoration for a plain house. 

Anne approached the front door apprehensively. But she didn’t even get the opportunity to knock on it before it came pushing open, a man’s face following close behind it. 

“You,” the man said. Anne gasped lightly. “What are you doing? Do you think I haven’t noticed you just sitting there for the last ten minutes?”

“I’m deeply sorry. I didn’t mean to offend or disturb, Mr. Johnson. You are Mr. Johnson, right? I don’t mean to just assume.” He gave her a nod of his head. “I only came for some eggs. You see, I’m with the Thomases at the end of the road in the red house-”

“Yes, yes. No need to blabber on. Come on in while I go fetch some eggs from the chicken coop out back.” With a flick of his hand, he gestured Anne in. 

His home wasn’t nearly as welcoming or warm as that of Mrs. Archibald. The entire house smelled of dust, probably because of the amount of it that was accumulating on every possible surface. There were no cookies on the center table, nor any bright colors. Everything seemed completely and utterly dull. Although it certainly seemed to fit Mr. Johnson’s personality, Anne couldn’t help but feel like something was amiss with it. Maybe it was the boxes piled in the corner, or the picture frames that were turned face down. 

Regardless, Anne didn’t have much time to ponder the peculiarities of it all before Mr. Johnson came walking back into the room, several eggs being carried in the extra fabric of his shirt. He picked them up all at once and shoved them into Anne’s basket. 

“These eggs do look most divine, Mr. Johnson. I expect they will taste absolutely flavorsome, and I thank you greatly.” As Anne reached into her jacket to grab the remaining coins she had been given, Mr. Johnson spoke. 

“Like big words do you? You use an awful lot of them.”

“Oh yes. I feel a great deal of things, and I feel a lot of them so greatly and passionately. So I figure that what better way to express my big feelings than with big words?”

Mr. Johnson looked at her, “Hmmm. You know, I like big words a bit myself. I used to read quite a lot.”

“I very much love to read. I haven’t gotten my hands on a lot of books, and I’ve never been to school, but whenever I can find one, no matter how big or small or sophisticated or unsophisticated, I devour it. People around me don’t really use a lot of big words, but I love them oh so much. And so I have to take them from books more often than not.”

“Unforeseen,” Mr. Johnson said, offering no further explanation.

“I’m sorry?”

“Unforeseen. Not expected or previously anticipated. Can you spell it for me?”

“Um,” Anne looked kind of out of sorts, but she would never miss the opportunity to prove her extensive knowledge of words. “U n f o r s e e n.” She looked up at Mr. Johnson, a small smile on her face. 

He gave her a shake of his head.

“Not quite right.”

Anne’s smile dropped, “Well then it must be u n f o r s e e n e.” She looked up at him again, expecting him to acknowledge that she was now correct. But he just shook his head again. 

“You’re forgetting an ‘e’, right after the ‘r’. The correct spelling is u n f o r e s e e n. You were closer than I might have expected you would be, though.”

“I can’t believe I forgot the e. I very much hate it when people forget the e after my own name,” Anne said. 

“Yes, I can understand that. How about this? If you come for eggs again, I will teach you five more words. That way you can go on expressing your big feelings and thoughts.”

“I would appreciate that considerably. I do love learning new things, especially when those things are as dear to me as my words.”

“Yes well, that may start the next time you visit me. You can be on your way now. I assume your folks wouldn’t want you gone from home for too long.”

“Mrs. Thomas,” Anne gasped. “Yes, I really must be heading back to the house now, I didn’t expect to be out for very long.” Anne pulled out the coins from her jacket, and, as payment for the eggs, she handed them to Mr. Johnson. He only closed her fist around the coins and pushed her hand back towards her. 

“You can keep the eggs for free. No payment is needed.”

“Oh but-”

“I insist. I don’t need it.”

Anne was greatly confused, but as she left the house and turned back down the street to return to the Thomases, she looked back and saw something akin to a smile on Mr. Johnson’s face. Then, she began to understand. 

While on the way back, Anne also came across the boy from earlier—the boy who had had his face pressed to the glass earlier as he watched her. He was going in the opposite direction of her, heading away from his home along with his basket, not unlike hers. Anne gave him a slight scowl, for staring so rudely at her earlier. But Anne couldn’t find herself caring much about the strange boy who had looked at her, not when she had met such kindred spirits that day. Kindred spirits that could even become friends. Friends in this unfamiliar place. 

Oh yes, Anne had hope.

**Present Day**

Anne and Gilbert couldn’t stop glancing at each other on their way to school. They wore grins on their faces, Anne’s so wide that she felt her lips might split and her face unravel. And they held hands, their conjoined ones swinging between them as they walked. Well not so much walked as jogged, as they were well and truly late for school. 

“I can not believe I’ve found you, Anne Shirley. You’re a wonder, I never thought I’d see you again.”

“You’re one to talk, Gilbert Blythe. The way you and your father left so suddenly that spring, I thought I might never get the chance to talk to you again.”

“Yes well, my father was desperate to get back here after mother died. I suppose he was just longing for a place that seemed familiar to him. A place where he wasn’t walking around, lost as he was.” Anne squeezed his hand tighter. She remembered that tragic day, the day when Gilbert’s mom had left this earth and left her family nearly lifeless. She remembered how heartbroken Gilbert had been, how hard it was to make him realize that his world wasn’t over. 

A small cough left Anne’s mouth. “Well who would’ve guessed that, despite the circumstances, we would both end up in little old Avonlea and going to the same school.”

“Yeah, about that, how did you end up here? Things were going so well for you with the Thomases, at least for the time being. What happened to them?”

“Um,” the smile quickly dropped off of Anne’s face. “It’s kind of a long story, Gil.”

Gilbert looked concerningly at her before responding, “I suppose it will be, what with how long it’s been since we’ve last seen each other. Another question I have, one that you should be able to answer more easily, is what in the heck was happening back there with Billy? Why was he approaching you like that? Do you want me to talk to him?”

“I don’t even know why he was so angry at me. He said that he was going to teach me a lesson for upsetting his sister. I wasn’t even talking bad about Prissy! I was just explaining what I saw, with her being in the supply room with Mr. Phillips.”

“He said he was going to teach you a lesson?” Gilbert went slightly red in the ears. “I’ve never liked him, that fool. But...wait. Prissy and Mr. Phillips? Since when are they close?”

“I don’t know, Gil. But please don’t mention it to anybody, or talk to Billy. Yesterday was only my first day, and I want to make a good impression. Well, as good of an impression as I can make, considering how badly I screwed up yesterday.”

Gilbert let out a very long breath. “Okay, I won’t bring it up with Billy. But if he hassles you like that again, you’ll tell me, won’t you?” Anne nodded at him. “Okay good.”

Before long, they were approaching the schoolhouse and right outside of the front door. “Will you have my back, Gil? I don’t think the other girls like me very much. Or the boys. I don’t even think Mr. Phillips likes me, either, now that I think about it.”

“Of course, Anne. And don’t worry, it won’t be long before they’re all dying to be friends with you. You aren’t a hard person to love, Anne. Not at all.” She beamed up at him.

So they pushed open the school doors, and immediately the entire class looked up at them. It seemed as though the day’s lesson had already begun, as Mr. Phillips was at the front of the room, writing on the board. The boys looked at Gilbert with mouths open in excitement, but also with eyebrows raised at his companion. And the girls looked on at Anne and Gilbert in pure shock. 

As Anne walked over to her seat beside Diana, she could hear the boys cheering at Gilbert’s return. He must have been very popular amongst them, different from how disliked Anne seemed to be so far by her classmates.

Anne felt a little more confidence as she made her way towards her fellow girl classmates, now that she was sure she had two very good friends with her in the building. But this all disappeared when Ruby went running past her, tears streaming down her cheeks and Josie running after her, a nasty look on her face as she looked at Anne. Charlie Sloan could then be heard asking Gilbert Blythe, “Why were you walking with that weird orphan girl?”

Oh god. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please leave comments with any suggestions or feedback regarding this story :))

**Author's Note:**

> Huh. Little people can feel such big things, can't they? 
> 
> I know this chapter was short, and I promise the following ones will be longer. Do you have any feedback, or suggestions as to how the story should continue? Please leave them below, loves :)
> 
> (Also, did anyone catch that reference in the summary to this story? "You'll marry, alright. Some fool who'll sit and read Tennyson by fire light, no doubt" :))


End file.
